Agenda-Setting Theory

Agenda-Setting Theory

Amy Lawrence

Why does agenda-setting occur?

History

What is agenda-setting?

Issues Compete

Audience Characteristics

Broad-View of Agenda-setting

An individual attends to news coverage because he or she has a need for orientation, which is dependent on relevance and uncertainty.

McCombs described agenda-setting as a zero-sum game where issues compete due to limited space (in print media) and time (in broadcast media)

At any given time there are around 5 issues on the public's agenda regardless of education and income

High Uncertainty

Low Uncertainty

Dearing and Rogers (1996) said agenda-setting is "an ongoing competition among issue proponents to gain the attention of media professionals, the public, and policy elites" (p. 1-2).

Low Relevance

Low Need for Orientation

Moderate Need for Orientation

High Relevance

High Need for Orientation

"The world outside and the pictures in our heads"- Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion (1922)

"It (the press) may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about" -Bernard Cohen (1963)

Moderate Need for Orientation

What's the most important problem facing the country?

Media Platforms

Issue Obtrusiveness

Media Agenda-Setting

Maxwell McCombs &

Donald Shaw

Obtrusive Issues:

Unemployment

Taxes

Inflation

The General State of the Economy

Unobtrusive Issues:

Government Credibility

Government Spending

Foreign Affairs

The Environment & Energy

Crime

Race Relations

Social Problems

Some studies researched whether newspapers or broadcast media had greater agenda-setting effects; however, there seems to be no overall conclusion.

Occasionally, results point to newspapers, which McCombs attributed to the larger amount of information given in newspapers.

Two Basic Assumptions:

1. The Media form reality

2. Timing and placement of a story create a perception of which issues are important

1968 Presidential Election

Chapel Hill Study

Hypothesis: The amount of media coverage an issue receives determines the public's perception of issue salience.

Results: McCombs and Shaw found a high correlation between the issues that the media found to be important and the issues that undecided voters found important

They coined the term Agenda-setting

Low Uncertainty

Weaknesses and Strengths

Testing Agenda-setting Effects

Five Stages of Agenda-setting Research

Weaknesses

-Researchers take a positivist position when examining issues like a person's experiences and observations

-The audience is often seen as a passive receiver

-Ambiguous topics like the economy, trust in government, foreign affairs lead to skewed results

-Research usually focuses on one issue rather than on competing issues

-Some studies do not take into account which factor is the dependent variable

References

Cohen, B. C. (1963). The press and foreign policy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Dearing, J. W., & Rogers, E. M. (1996). What is agenda-setting? In S. H. Chaffee (Ed.), Communication concepts 6: Agenda-setting (pp. 1-23). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Kosicki, G. M. (1993). Problems and Opportunities in agenda setting. Journal of Communication, 43(2), 100-127.

Lippmann, W. (1922). Public opinion [Ibook version].

McCombs, M. E. (2005). A look at agenda-setting: past, present and future. Journalism Studies, 6(4), 543-557.

McCombs, M. E. & Shaw, D. L. (1972). The agenda-setting function of mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36(2), 176-186. doi:10.1086/267990

Miller, K. (2005). Theories of media and society. In Communication theories: Perspectives, processes, and contexts (2nd ed., pp. 269-289). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Rogers, E. M., Dearing, J. W., & Bregman D. (1993). The anatomy of agenda-setting research. Journal of Communication, 43(2), 68-84.

Weaver, D. H. (1980). Audience need for orientation and media effects. Communication Research, 7(3), 361-373.

Who: Political Scientists study policy agenda effects.

Journalism researchers study the effects of the media on the public

What: Agenda-setting research had included a number of topics: Civil Rights, Drugs, Crime, Foreign Policy

Where: Asia, Europe, South America, North America. Agenda-setting occurs wherever there is an open political system and open media system

How: Two types of methods to test agenda-setting:

1. Cross-lagged Correlations: Compare rank order of media issues to the public's awareness of an issue

2. Longitudinal Analysis: Observe the progression of issues over a period of time, and compare media coverage to the public's awareness.

The Basic Agenda-setting Effects

Attribute Agenda Setting or

Second-level Agenda-setting

Psychology of Agenda-setting

Effects

Sources of Media Agenda

Consequences of Agenda-setting

Effects

Strengths

-It is a rejection of persuasion

-It is re-emerging the powerful effects theory

- The theory helps address concerns about governance

-It added heuristic value to the communication's field

Image by Tom Mooring